Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, a header assembly 10 is used to interconnect between a wiring harness connector (not shown) and a printed circuit board 12. The header assembly 10 is typically constructed of plastic (but could be of another material, such as aluminum), having a flex-terminal receptacle 14. Within the flex-terminal receptacle 14, a plurality of V-shaped, flatly configured flex-terminals 16 are provided, each being connected to a respective anchor pin 18. The flex-terminals 16, and their associated anchor pins 18, are arranged in two rows: an upper row 20 and a lower row 22 (see FIG. 12). By way of example (and not limitation), there are sixteen flex-terminals 16 to each of the upper and lower rows 20, 22, the flex-terminals rowably opposing each other. There is a predetermined distance D between the relaxed position of the apices 32 of rowably opposing flex-terminals 16, and there is a predetermined width W between of the inner faces 34, 36 of the flex-terminal receptacle.
At the rear side of the header assembly 10, the anchor pins 18 horizontally project to a predetermined bend location respectively for each of the upper and lower rows 20, 22, whereupon the anchor pins are vertically oriented and terminate at a common plane whereat they are anchored by solder to the printed circuit board 12. A mylar strip 26 serves as an anchor pin placement keeper prior to the anchor pins being anchored to the printed circuit board.
The flex-terminal receptacle 14 is configured to receive an inlaid pin terminal receptacle of a wiring harness characterized by a base plane having a plurality of inlaid pin terminals, each having an exposed contact surface that is interfaceable with an apex 32 of each flex-terminal. The header assembly 10 includes a pair of seats 28, 30, each for receiving a respective U-shaped guide member, having an associated lock arm, of the planar pin terminal receptacle, wherein the resilient lock arms serve to selectively lock the flex-terminal receptacle to the inlaid pin terminal receptacle.
In a typical "dock-and-lock" scenario of operation, the anchor pins 18 are firstly soldered to the PCB 12. Then, the flex-terminal receptacle 14 receives an inlaid pin terminal receptacle of a wiring harness having a plurality of inlaid pin terminals, wherein an exposed surface thereof slidably interfaces with the apex of a respective flex-terminal as the two receptacles are mated.
Quality assurance practices frequently require that the electrical component associated with the PCB 12, such as for example an instrument cluster, radio, heating/ventilating/cooling control, etc., be tested. Accordingly, the tester for performing the test must be interfaceable with the flex-terminal receptacle 14.
In conventional practice, testers 50, as shown at FIGS. 2 and 4, have a box-like configuration including a barrel-terminal receptacle 52 having a plurality of barrel-terminals 54 and a plurality of indexing ribs 62. The barrel-terminals 54 are arranged in upper and lower rows 56, 58, and have the same number of barrel-terminals per row as the flex-terminal receptacle 14 has flex-terminals per row (ie., sixteen). The barrel-terminal receptacle is intended to interface with a projecting pin receptacle having reciprocal indexing slots for receiving the indexing ribs 62, wherein a plurality of terminal pins freely project so as to be insertable into each barrel-terminal.
Direct electrical interface between a flex-terminal receptacle and a barrel-terminal receptacle is impossible because of the incompatible structures inherent to flex-terminals and barrel-terminals: the resilient V-shape configuration of flex-terminals presupposes that the apex thereof interface with respective inlaid pin terminals that are inlaid into a base plane so as to have an elongated exposed contact surface, whereas barrel-terminals have a central bore 60 which presupposes an interface with pin terminals that freely project so as to be receivable into the central bore.
Accordingly, what remains needed in the art is an adapter which interfaces a flex-terminal receptacle to a barrel-terminal receptacle.